Professor Sean Sayers

About

Sean Sayers has written extensively on Hegelian and Marxist philosophy from a Hegelian‑Marxist perspective. He has worked in the areas of social philosophy, ethics, theory of knowledge, metaphysics and logic. He has also written on Freud and psychoanalysis, and is currently working on issues in aesthetics. He studied at the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford and holds a PhD from the University of Kent. His work has been translated into Chinese, French, German, Greek, Japanese, Korean, and Turkish. He has held visiting appointments in Colorado, Massachusetts, Sydney, Istanbul, Shanghai, Wuhan, and Beijing. He is currently Visiting Professor of Philosophy at Peking University (2016-18).

His books include Marx and Alienation: Essays on Hegelian Themes (2011), Plato's Republic: An Introduction (Edinburgh University Press, 1999), Marxism and Human Nature (Routledge, 1998, paperback 2007), Reality and Reason: Dialectic and the Theory of Knowledge (Blackwell, 1985), and Hegel, Marx and Dialectic: A Debate (with Richard Norman 1980; reprinted Gregg, 1994). He has also co‑edited Socialism, Feminism and Philosophy: A Radical Philosophy Reader (Routledge, 1991), Socialism and Democracy (Macmillan, 1991) and Socialism and Morality (Macmillan, 1990). He has published numerous articles in scholarly journals and books. He was one of the founders of the journal Radical Philosophy (1972), and of the Marx and Philosophy Society (2003). He is founder and editor-in-chief of Marx and Philosophy Review of Books (2010).

Publications

What does Marx mean by 'alienation'? What role does the concept play in his critique of capitalism and his vision of a future society?
Marx and Alienation deals in depth with some of the most important philosophical assumptions of Marx's work. It sets Marx's account of alienation and its overcoming in the context of the Hegelian philosophy from which it derives, and discusses it in relation to contemporary debates and controversies. It challenges recent accounts of Marx's theory, and shows that knowledge of Hegel's philosophy is essential for an understanding of central themes in Marx's philosophy.
Marx and Alienation explains and discusses Marx's ideas in an original and accessible fashion and makes a major contribution to Marxist philosophy.

Defending the controversial theory that human nature is a historical phenomenon, this book defends the Marxist and Hegelian historical approach, engaging with a range of work at the heart of the contemporary debate in social and moral philosophy.

Capitalism is going through its greatest crisis since the 1930s or before. The banking system has been saved from meltdown (at least for the time being) only by extensive government intervention in the USA, Britain, and a number of other countries. Stock markets all over the world have plummeted. A long and deep recession is in prospect. Capitalism, it is sometimes said, may be on the verge of collapse.

Marx's concepts of individual and society have their roots in Hegel's philosophy. Like recent communitarian philosophers, both Marx and Hegel reject the idea that the individual is an atomic entity, an idea that runs through liberal social philosophy and classical economics. Human productive activity is essentially social. However, Marx shows that the liberal concepts of individuality and society are not simply philosophical errors; they are products and expressions of the social alienation of free market conditions. Marx's theory develops from Hegel's account of "civil society," and uses a framework of historical development similar to Hegel's. However, Marx uses the concept of alienation to criticize the liberal, communitarian and Hegelian conceptions of modern society and to envisage a form of individuality and community that lies beyond them.

Marx conceives of labor as form-giving activity. This is criticized for presupposing a "productivist" model of labor which regards work that creates a material product - craft or industrial work - as the paradigm for all work (Habermas, Benton, Arendt). Many traditional kinds of work do not seem to fit this picture, and new "immaterial" forms of labor (computer work, service work, etc.) have developed in postindustrial society which, it is argued, necessitate a fundamental revision of Marx's approach (Hardt and Negri). Marx's theory, however, must be understood in the context of Hegel's philosophy. In that light, the view that Marx has a "productivist" model of labor is mistaken. The concept of "immaterial" labor is unsound, and Marx's ideas continue to provide an illuminating framework for understanding work in modern society.

Marx conceives of labour as form giving activity. This is criticised for presupposing a `productivist' model of labour which regards work that creates a material product – craft or industrial work – as the paradigm for all work (Habermas, Benton, Arendt). Many traditional kinds of work do not seem to fit this picture, and new `immaterial' forms of labour (computer work, service work, etc.) have developed in postindustrial society which, it is argued, necessitate a fundamental revision of Marx's approach (Hardt and Negri). In this paper I argue that Marx's theory must be understood in the context of Hegel's philosophy. In that light, I show that the view that Marx has a `productivist' model of labour is mistaken. I criticise the concept of `immaterial' labour, and argue that Marx's ideas continue to provide an illuminating framework for understanding work in modern society.

Sayers, S. (2006). Religion and Politics in the Modern World. Modern Philosophy4:1-11.

Why work? Most people say that they work only as a means to earn a living. This instrumental view is also implied by the hedonist account of human nature which underlies utilitarianism and classical economics and which has been influential in recent `analytical' Marxism. It is argued in this paper that Marx's concept of alienation involves a more satisfactory theory of human nature which is rooted in Hegel's philosophy. According to this, we are productive beings and work is potentially a fulfilling activity. The fact that it is not experienced as such is shown to be at the basis of Marx's critique of capitalist society.

This article sheds important new light on the philosophical assumptions about human nature in Marx's account of alienation. The key to understanding these lies in Hegel's philosophy. This paper explains Hegel's account of the role of labour in human development and shows how it underlies Marx's theory. The paper focuses particularly on Hegel's Aesthetics and demonstrates that this work contains crucial but hitherto neglected material on this topic. It then goes on to discuss how Marx's views differ from Hegel's, and to criticise Arendt.

Explores how the Hegelian ways of thinking have influenced the philosophy of Karl Marx. Problems encountered by Marx in completing Volumes II and III of "Capital"; Role of Hegel in the theoretical structure of Marx's thought; Arguments regarding the thesis that Marx abandoned Hegelianism.

According to MacIntyre, the advent of modernity has led to the fragmentation and compartmentalization of social life and values. In this paper I argue that it has also involved the creation of new forms of social relation and new liberal values. MacIntyre's critique does not do justice to the complex and contradictory character of these changes. I make this point through a discussion of the notion of tolerance and of developments in the modern university, including the impact of the RAE. Similar issues are raised by MacIntyre's criticisms of the `enlightenment project' and his attempt to return to an earlier Aristotelian model as the basis for moral and social thought. Rather than rejecting modernity and enlightenment ideas, I argue, we should affirm its core values of liberty, equality and community and seek to realise them in the modern world. A more adequate picture of modernity provides some grounds to question MacIntyre's pessimism about the possibilities of doing so.

Sayers, S. (2010). Religion and Politics in the Modern World. in:Interpretations of Marxism: Chinese and Western.Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press, pp. 209-229.

Sayers, S. (2006). Freedom and the "Realm of Necessity". in:Moggach, D. ed.The Left-Hegelians: New Philosophical and Political Perspectives.Cambridge, UK and New York, US: Cambridge University Press, pp. 261-274.

This paper gives an original account of one of the most discussed passages in Marx dealing with the concepts of work and freedom. It criticises the view that there are two conflicting strands in Marx's thought (Cohen, Arendt, et al.). It demonstrates that it is a mistake to interpret Marx as opposing the realms of `necessity' and `freedom'. It refutes the common idea that Marx's views on work and freedom changed significantly in his later writings and argues for a more utopian vision.